The present invention relates generally to buckles, and more particularly to a strap-engaging buckles assembly and handhold attachment strap system for horse reins, backpack straps, belts, climbing rope, and the like.
Competitive equestrians are well acquainted with the challenges in attaining a proper position on the horse. Not only is proper positioning essential to attaining the most elegant form in motion, but it is essential to proper balance, horse control, and rider safety. Interestingly, as old as the art of riding may be and as much as the horse became an integral part of Western culture, proper riding mechanics did not by any means become common knowledge and understanding. On the contrary, proper riding mechanics are the province and possession of only those who have devoted considerable time to mastering its subtleties.
Owing to the age of the art, riding equipment is now highly mature and developments are generally but refinements in the art. Many articles and devices have been developed to assist rider control and safety. Even riding reins have been amendable to improvement in recent years, as is evidenced by U.S. Pat. No. 5,148,656 to Meaghan, issued Sep. 22, 1992, which discloses riding reins that facilitate the maneuvering of a horse by providing readily perceptible and identifiable indicia at corresponding locations from the bit so that a rider is able to properly position his hands on the reins to manipulate the horse in the desired manner. The readily perceptible and identifiable indicia can be utilized by an instructor to immediately and clearly instruct a trainee as to the proper positioning of the trainee's hands to control the horse in the desired fashion, or by the trainer to distinguish various tensions on the reins when getting a particular response from the horse. A rider can thus readily appreciate the proper hand positioning and corresponding feel to control the horse in such desired fashion.
A problem frequently encountered when riding is slippery reins. Wet reins can compromise the rider's grip on the reins, forcing the rider to compensate by changing position on the horse, and thereby undermining balance and control. To date, there is no known method or apparatus for enhancing grip on the reins in a manner that will not be undermined in any weather condition, that allows for adjustment, and that will enable instructors to properly position and selectively position the rider's hands on the reins for training.
It is therefore a first objective of the invention to provide a device that permits the rapid and secure adjustment of the length of the reins.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a method to firmly grip the reins once the length has been properly adjusted.
It is another object of the invention to provide a buckle mechanism that connects at least one strap wherein the length of the strap is continuously variable.
It is a further object to provide the aforementioned features and benefits in a combination of a male and female mating buckle wherein the mating of the buckle components secures the desired length of strap to the buckle combination.